Bottled drink dispenser



Jan. 15, 1946. F RggENs T 2,393,059

BOTTLED DRINK DISPENSER Filed April 9, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 F T RABENS El AL BOTTLED DRINK DISPENSER Filed April 9, 1943 1946- F T. RABENS ErAL BOTTLED bRINK DISPENSER Fileq April 9, 1943 a Sheets-Sheet 4 -A iiorrpeys Jan. 15, 1946. F. T. RABENS ET AL BOTTLED DRINK DISPENSER Filed April 9, 1943 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Jan. 15, 1 946 BOTTLED DRINK DISPENSER I Fred T. Rabens and Fredolph T. Peterson,

St. Paul, Minn.

Application April 9, 1943, Serial No. 482,406

6 Claims.

This invention relates to vending machines. It is a general object of the invention to provide a coin controlled machine for dispensing products such as bottled drinks. It contemplates the provision 'of a series of magazines for holding difierent types or quantities of bottled drinks with means for selectively dispensing thediiferent types, and means for quickly and easily adjust-v ing the magazines for difierent sizes of bottles.

Another object of the invention is to provide dispensing mechanism having an improved coin actuated mechanism which is comparatively simple in structure and which is arranged to control any one of a number of different bottle holding magazines.

A furthe object of the invention is to provide means for insuring delivery of the bottled goods to the discharge compartment in proper position so that there is no danger of breakage of the bottled goods or clogging in the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide hand dispensing means which is controlled that it is impossible for the operator to force the delivery of more than one unit to be purchased for each coin deposited.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the views, and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine with the top of the cabinet open;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the machine;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section with portions of the dispensing magazines removed;

Fig. 5 is a section taken approximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 but with the dispensing magazines in position;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the coin control and hand operating mechanism;

Fig. '7 is a section taken approximately on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section taken approximately on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a plan viewof the coin connector carriage;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the coin chute selectingmeans and Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional view through the coin chute selecting means.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a cabinet A having a hinged top l2, a main front face I3 and a control housing l4 mounted on said front face l3. Thereis also shown a dispenser actuating handle I5 and an outlet doo [6 which is mounted on a hinge IT and is provided with a handle is. On the right-hand side of the casing front face 13 is a bottle cap remover l9 and a cap receptacle 2!].

Within the cabinet A is suitable insulating material 2i and a refrigerating unit indicated at 22. In the insulated portion of the cabinet A is a floor 23 which is provided to support a portion of the dispensing mechanism.

The magazines which hold the bottled goods each have main supporting members 24 and 25 which, as shown in Fig. 3, have downwardly extending end portions 26 which fit into sockets formed by plates 21 which are fixed in plates 28. at each end of the machine. Secured to the support 25 is a vertically disposed magazine side wall 29 having a rounded track element 30 thereon which is adapted to assist in supporting 1 a bottle or other article in the magazine.

Adjacent each of the magazine supports 24 is a series of spaced plates 3! which form spaced pockets or recesses for receiving a downwardly extending lower portion of leg members 32 which are connected to and support the magazine side wall members 33. Said side wall members 33 have rounded track elements 35 thereon similar to the elements 38 on the magazine side wall members 29. It is, therefore, seen that the width of the magazine can be varied at will by shifting the magazine side wall members 33 toward and away from the stationary side wall members Slidably mounted between magazine supporting members 2 and 25 are blocks 35 which are channeled to receive the edges of said magazine supports 26 and 25. Extending upwardly from each of the blocks 35 is a follower member 36 which is adapted to bea against the last of the line of bottles, as best indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. At the rear of the follower 36 is a pair of vertically disposed webs 3'! between which is pivotally mounted a dog 38 having a release handle 39 thereon. The dog 38 is adapted to be received in any one of a number of notches 40 which are formed in removable racks M. The ends of each rack 4i rest in a socket Mb supported by a bar Ma which rides on a pair of rollers 42 positioned at spaced points in the cabinet A upon the floor 23. The rollers are supported in spaced relation to the floor by means of brackets 43 which-carry the roller housing 44. The brackets 43 extend upwardly above the rollers 42 and are provided with notches 45 which assist in keeping the rack 4| in a vertical position. Intermediate the brackets 48 and rollers 42 is a transverse brace 48 which is provided with cut-outs or notches 41 to assist in supporting the rack ii in a vertical position.

Connected to the rack 4| intermediate its ends are plates 48 which have a link 48 secured thereley 58 and thence around a pulley 51 to connect with a series of hook-like elements 58 at the opposite ends of the coin connector bars 55 from the ends where the cable 58 connect. Thus-when any one of the bars 55 is reciprocated it will similarly reciprocate the respective rack bar 4| to which it is connected by the cables 58 and 52. The spring 5| in the cable system keeps it tight at all times.

The sliding bars 55 rest upon a base plate 59 and have an upper guide plate 88. As viewed in Fig. 6, said bars have coin receiving slots 8| therein. The base plate 59 terminates adjacent the slots 8| and the upper plate 88 is shown with a coin slot 82 therein which coincides with the slots 8| in the bars 55 when said bars are in the position shown in Fig. 6. Adjacent the right-hand end of the bars 55 is a plate 83 which is shown separately in Fig. 9. The plate 83 has an edge portion 84 having a plurality of coin slots 85 therein. Mounted on the plate 83 are four rollers 88 which are adapted to movably support the plate 83 between a pair of spaced parallel track members 81. Connected to the roller axles 88 abovethe said rollers 88 is a yoke 88 having a pair of upturned ears 18 to which are connected the ends of a tension spring The intermediate portion of the spring H extends about a semicircular block I2 which is mounted upon a stationary cross member I9 connected between the track members 81. A cable I4 is connected to the plate 83 at one end and extends around a pulley best shown in Fig. 6, and the opposite end of said cable H is connected to an adjustable terminal 18 which is mounted upon a quadrant 11 having a grooved edge I8. Quadrant I1 is mounted upon a pivot I9 and is also connected to the hand lever l5 which extends outside of the casing l4 which holds the coin controlled operating mechanism. The spring H is adapted to return the plate 88 to the position shown in Fig. 6

and when the hand lever I5 is pressed down it will cause the cable 14 to pull the plate 83 to the right as viewed in Fig. 6. A suitable dashpot 88 is con-. nectedbetween the top of the casing I4 and the hand lever l5 to retard downward movement of said hand lever l5 so that the mechanism cannot be actuated with a sudden jump.

At the left-hand ends of the trackways 38 and 84 which support the articles to be dispensed .is an article receiving well 8| which has a forward ly and downwardly slanting bottom indicated by the dotted line 82 in Fig. 5. The well 8| communicates with a bucket 83 which is mounted in the front wall of the main casing A at the lower left-hand side thereof and which is pivotally supported by the hinge Il so that it can be swung outwardly from the front wall of the casing A.

At the ends of the trackways 88 and 38 there are provided yieldable gates 85 which are shaped to properly direct the bottles 88 to the well 8|. As shown in Fig. 3 the near edges of the gates 85 are bent inwardly toward the bottles, and at a point on each gate adjacent the top of the first bottle in a line said gate is provided with a bend 81 which tends to tilt the top of the bottle to the left as viewed in Fig. 5, and the bent lower portion of each gate 85 will tend to tilt the lower portion of the bottle to the right as viewed in Fig. 5 and cause the lower part of the bottle to feed downwardly into the well 8| and strike the slanting well bottom 82 in a manner which prevents injury to the bottle.

The gates 85 are mounted upon a shaft 88 as shown in Fig. 3, said shaft being supported beneath a plate 88 which extends across a major portion of the interior of the casing A. About the shaft 88 and adjacent each of the gates 85 is a helical spring 88 which has one end bearing against its respective gate 85 and its other end positioned beneath the plate 88. The spring 98 tends to keeep the gates 85 pressed inwardly toward the bottles in the respective magazines.

Additional means is provided to insure proper' feeding of the bottles from their magazines and to insure delivery of only one bottle at a time. Connected to the shaft 88 is a lever 8| which is connected to a link 82 extending to a lever 83 on a shaft 94 as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6. The lever 9|, link 92- and lever 83 in Fig. 9 is so illustrated in that figure for the reason that those elements lie in front of the structure set forth in Fig. 3 in full lines. The shaft 84 supports a swingable lever 95 having a weight 98 thereon. Should the cabinet be tipped from its right-hand end as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3 in an attempt to dump one or more of the bottles 88 from the machine the weighted lever 85 in Fig. 6 would swing to the left and through levers 9| and 98 and link 92 would cause the shaft 88 to partially rotate in a counterclockwise direction thus depressing the plate 89 which is fastened to the lever 8| and increase the torsion of springs 98 on said shaft 88. This increases the resistance of the gates 85 and retains the bottles in their respective magazines.

The small casing II on the front of the main cabinet A houses the coin mechanism by means of which the dispenser is operated. There is a, coin inlet 81 which communicates with a chute 88 shown in Fig. 6. The chute 88 in turn communicates with a movable chute section 88 which is pivotally mounted at I88. The pivoted chute section 99 is adapted to communicate with any one of a series of chute sections i8I, |82, I88, I84 and I85 which are in turn in respective communication with one of the coin slots 8| in the sliding bars 55. Manipulation of the pivoted coin chute section 89 is accomplished by means of a link I88 connected to a lug |8| which is secured to the pivoted chute section 99, said link being III is an indicator finger I I2 which points'to any 7 one of five different positions as shown by the dial 8 on top of the casing I4. This indicates the particular magazine for a-particular type or to rest on one of a series of plates I III which rest beneath the plate 59 directly respectively under-' neath the bars 55. With the coin in this position resting upon one of the plates 4 it also extends through one of the .slots 65 in the sliding plate 63 which moves upon the rollers 66 between the trackways 61. Thereupon as best illustrated in' Fig. 6, when the handle I5 is depressed it will pull the plate 63 and that bar 55 to which it is connected by a coin H5. The plate 03 will pull that bar 55 to which it is connected by a coin for the full limit of its throw and then when the handle is released the grip on the coin 5 between the bar 55 and plate 63 will be loosened and the coin will drop into a coin receiving tray I I6. This disconnects the bar 55 and it is pushed back to its position shown in Fig. 6 under tension of the spring II which is connected to the yoke 63 and plate 63. Movement of the bar 55 and plate 63 will move the cables 50 and 52 which are connected to one of the toothed racks II. In turn the rack M which has been actuated will move the bottle follower a predetermined step to the left as viewed in Fig. 3 and push the foremost bottle in that particular magazine into the well 8| from whence it will drop into the bottle receiver 83. The bottle receiver 83 is then swung into the inlet 91 it will fall through the various 7 selected chute sections and into one of the coin slots 6| in a sliding bar 55. The coin will come outwardly from the main cabinet A and the bottle removed by hand. a

At the end of each trackway or magazine showing a line of bottles is a trigger I I! having a cam surface II8.- The lower end of the trigger II! is connected to a slidable rod 0 which in turn is connected at one end to a cable I20. A trigger II'I, rod H3 and cable I20 is provided for each magazine and for each slidable coin connector bar 55. Each cable I20 extends around pulleys I2I shown in Fig. 4 and pulleys I22 shown in Fig. 7. Tension springs I23 connect the ends of the cables I20 with stationary brackets I24. The

springs I23 normally and yieldably retain the plates I I0 in the positions shown in Fig. 6. When a magazine holding a row of bottles is empty the follower 36 in thatmagazine will engage and depress the trigger I IT in its magazine. Thereupon the cable I20 will pull one of the slidable plates I It to the left permitting the coin II5 to drop through the return chute I25 and. into a coin delivery receptacle I26 in the front portion of the cabinet A. 1

. Each of the slidable coin releasing plates H4 at its left-hand end is bent over at H411 and around a bar I28.which is connected to a rod I29 extending outside of the casing and terminating in a knob I30 as indicated in Figs. 1 and 6. If a slug or other element is dropped into the coin mechanism and is of such size that it will not properly operate, the knob I30 can be pulled to pull the plates M4 to the left from beneath the coin slots in the bars 55 and ordinarily the slug or other element will drop through to the coin sembly of chute sections I0! through I05 on pivots I29 is a swinging gate I30 which normally tends to swing downwardly against the left-hand plate I21 as shown in Figs. 6 and 11. The plates I21 are provided with a plurality of slots I28 there through, and the gate I30 has a plurality of lugs I3I extending outwardly from the lower edge thereof. These lugs I3I are so positioned that when the gate swings downwardly and against the left-hand coin guide plate I21 said lugs will pass through the slots I28 inbothplates I21 to prevent coins from dropping into the slots SI of the sliding bars 55. However, when the yoke 60 is in its nearest position to the left as shown in Fig. 6 said'yoke engages an arm I32 which extends outwardly from the gate I30 and swings said gate from the position shown in Fig. 11 to the position of Fig. 6, thus moving the coin obstructing lugs |3I out of the slots I 20 in the plates I21 so that coins will drop freely into the slots 6| in the' slide bars 55. The gate I30 is provided to prevent coins from dropping out of the lower portions of the coin chutes IOI through I05 after the operating lever I5 has been pressed downwardly a slight distance to move the yoke 63 toward the right in a dispensing operation. If a.

coin is dropped in the dispensing mechanism after the lever I5 has been pressed down it will be retained by. one of the lugs I3I on the gate I30 until the dispensing operation has been completed and v The machine is one which is particularly adaptable for dispensing milk and other bottled goods since it is simple and efficient in operation and its bottle supporting trackways can be readily removed and cleaned. Furthermore, the trackways made up of the members 29 and 33 are adjustable in width so the difierent sizes of bottles can be dispensed from the apparatus. The device can readily be filled and the bottles will feed from the machine with the greatest, degree of safety against breakage as well as be insured against unauthorized removal without proper payment. It is a self-contained. refrigerated unit which will hold a considerable amount of stock and requires infrequent attention from an attendant. Not only are the trackways adjustable in width but the toothed racks extending along said trackways are quickly interchangeable so that the movement of the follower can be readily adjusted to different widths of bottles within a reasonable I range. The trigger mechanism insures return of the coin if a magazine has been previously emptied. One important feature of the device is a positive return of the racks dl by reason of the cables 50 which are connected between the racks tion, it will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, arrangement.

details and proportions of the various parts throughout the views, without departing from the scope of our invention.

a What is claimed is: 1. In a vending machine, a substantially horizontal track-way to slidably receive a plurality of objects to be dispensed, afollower movable along said trackway, a rack mounted for reciproeating movement adjacent said trackway and in alignment therewith, the mounting for said rack lower in saidmagazine, a yieldable gate at an end,

of said magazine adjacent said outlet, and said gate being shaped to tilt an article being pushed therefrom by said follower and present an end ofthe article to said dispensing outlet.

3. In a vending machine, a plurality of magazines, each including a trackway, a follower movable along each of said trackways with a step-bystep motion, adjustable coin controlled mechanism for selectively actuating said followers and having a single actuator, coin return mechanism, and an independently operable trip device for each'magazine for actuating said coin return mechanism, said trip devices lying in the path of movement of said followers and presenting slanting cam-like faces to said follower.

4. In a vending machine, a magazine, a follower in said magazine, an actuator handle, re-

tension thereon when said trackway is ciprocating means engageabic with said iollowcr to move said follower in a step-by-step manner, cables connected between said actuator handle and said reciprocating means to positively move said reciprocating means in both directions, and

a take-up spring in one of said cables to maintain said cables under tension and eliminate play therein.

5. In. a vending machine, a substantially horizontal trackway to slidably receive a plurality of objects to be dispensed, a follower movable along said trackway with-a step-by-step movement, a gate at the dispensing end of said trackway, said gate being pivoted and under tension to yieldably swing aside as articles are being dispensed, and means connected to said gate for increasing the tilted downwardly and forwardly. I

6. The structure in claim 5', and said means for increasing the tension on said gate comprising a weighted lever connected to said gate;

FRED T. RABENS. FREDOLPH 'I'. PETERSON. 

